Video Essay Offers Fascinating Insight into How Spike Lee Used Heat in DO THE RIGHT THING
I remember the first time I watched Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing. It’s one of those films that hit me incredibly hard and I was overwhelmed with so many different emotions. It was a very provocative and insightful racially charged story that, as we’ve seen, is sadly still very much relevant in today’s world.
The story follows a pizza delivery man named Mookie (Lee) making the rounds in a Brooklyn neighborhood on one of the hottest days of the year. Throughout the course of the film, tensions rise along with the heat and as it continues to boil it explodes into a confrontation between whites, blacks and the police.
I have a video essay her for you to watch created by The Royal Ocean Film Society, which dives into the heat aspect of the film and it offers some pretty fascinating insight. Lee explains that the inspiration behind it came from an old Alfred Hitchcock movie that mentions that after 92 degrees the murder rate goes up and he points out that most riots happen during the summer.
The video goes on to explore how the heat aspect was utilized in the film. Lee wanted people to feel it when they were watching the movie, which I think he succeeded in.
Check out the video below and tell us what you think!